Prince Harry to present winning medals at London Marathon

Prince Harry will return briefly to the UK this weekend to hand out the medals at the London Marathon.

Prince Harry will be back in UK this weekend when he will make a flying visit to help hand out the medals at the London Marathon. With mounting speculation that the Duchess of Cambridge is about to give birth to her second child, Harry’s visit could be perfect timing to allow him a chance to meet his new niece or nephew before heading back to Australia to complete his four week stint with that country’s Defence Force.

Captain Harry Wales, as he is known in the Army, began a month long attachment with the ADF on April 6th 2015. The schedule for his secondment always allowed time for the prince to travel to Turkey to take part in commemorations there on April 25th, marking the centenary of the start of the Gallipoli campaigns.

Now full details of that short break from Australia have been revealed. Kensington Palace has confirmed that Harry will travel from Australia to Turkey with members of the Australian Defence Force on a Royal Australian Air Force plane. There he will meet up with the Prince of Wales and both will attend the commemorations of a campaign which led to the loss of tens of thousands of soldiers – many of them from Australia and New Zealand.

Father and son will then return to the UK together, quite possibly to news of a new addition to their family as the Duchess of Cambridge’s due date is reported to be April 25th. However, even if the baby does arrive that Saturday there will be no wetting the baby’s head for Harry as he will have to be up bright and early to attend the London Marathon.

The prince will be there in his role as Patron of the London Marathon Charitable Trust and he will present the medals to the winners of the elite men’s and women’s races and the champions of the IPC Athletics World Championships, which incorporates the wheelchair races. Prince Harry is also due to meet some of the volunteers who help put the Marathon together every year, and he’ll also spend time with members of St John’s Ambulance who provide first aid support to runners.

After that, Captain Wales will head back to Australia to complete his four week attachment. His initial fortnight in the country has seen him train with NORFORCE, whose soldiers are predominantly Aboriginal, and take a flight on an Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) Tiger. This flying visit to the UK will allow Harry to fulfil a longstanding commitment to attend the London Marathon, as well as possibly meet a certain little prince or princess who is about to make their debut.